


Be Mine

by orphan_account



Series: CHALLENGE: Quote Prompts [1]
Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Valdaya
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 13:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3693662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Val and Z celebrate their nine year famiversary with a box of candy sweethearts and have fun reading the cheesy sayings. But when a heart falls out with a more serious message, the atmosphere abruptly shifts.</p><p>Inspired by otpprompts. My first fic (of fifty) for the Quote Prompt Challenge. This is #28: “Marry me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Mine

**Author's Note:**

> This is fiction, not reality.

Zendaya put the finishing touches on the small woodentable, which she had draped with a cheap red table cloth from the dollar storedown the street.  Lighting the candle in the center, she stepped back to look at the presentation.  Their everyday dinnerware was intermixed with a few fancier touches that she had used in an attempt to make it seem more special.  Deciding that it didn’t look too horrible, she walked the few steps it took to reach the kitchen counter and picked up the food that she had prepared. She had never been much of a cook, but Maks had secretly worked with her for the past few weeks in order to help her prepare Val’s favorite dishes.  Placing the serving bowls on the table, she turned and looked at the clock on the microwave.  

7:09.  

She ran her fingers through her hair before plopping down on her chair.  Val had just found out who his eleventh partner was a few days ago and they had already started rehearsing, but for some reason the producers had needed to meet with him tonight before he left.  Out of all of the days that they could keep him late, they _would_  choose today.  

She and Val had officially been dating for two years, although the build up to their relationship was much longer.  He had admitted to having feelings for her since practically the very beginning, although he had never spoken of them until she was nineteen.  It had taken Zendaya a bit longer to understand why Val had become such an integral part of her life, but eventually she had.  Their friendship had traveled the winding road to love much easier than either of them had expected.  That’s not to say that they hadn’t argued or unintentionally hurt each other along the way, but it had just seemed like such a natural progression.  

And now the same show that had introduced them to each other was the one thing that stood between them and their night in.  She shook her head before taking a deep breath.  She knew that it didn’t matter; they celebrated their relationship every single day just by loving each other, but she had hoped to spend their famiversary together, not apart.  

Closing her eyes, she breathed in the succulent aromas wafting from the food and tried to relax.  She heard footsteps coming down the hallway, but after getting excited the last dozen times that that had happened only to be disappointed, she placed her elbow on the edge of the table and leaned her head against her hand.  Keys jingled nearby before the door to the apartment swung open.  Zendaya jumped and looked up in time to see Val come in holding a bouquet of flowers with his bag slung over his shoulder.  He closed the door before facing her.  

“I’m so sorry I’m late, babe,” he said.  

“It’s okay,” she said, getting to her feet.  His gaze traveled loving along her body, from the curls in her hair to the short black dress that hugged her curves, all the way down to her bare feet resting against the carpet.  Lifting his eyes back to hers, he smiled before kicking off his shoes and dropping his bag to the floor.  He walked over to her, laying the flowers on the table before cupping her face in his hands and kissing her.  Reaching towards him, she threaded her fingers through his hair.  After a few seconds, they pulled apart and she leaned her forehead against his.  

“Hi,” she said. He softly brushed his thumb across her cheek and smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.  

“Hi.”  

“How was your day?”

“Good. Yours?”

“It was alright,” she said.  “Better now.”

His smile widened. “You made dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it edible?”

“Funny.”

He laughed and she couldn’t help but join in.

“Watch it or I won’t let you eat any of it,” she joked.  

He smiled, kissing her again before backing away slightly and grabbing the bouquet.  

“Happy famiversary,” he said, handing the flowers to her.  The arrangement was absolutely beautiful.  There were large pink stargazer lilies, their petals set off by white edges, paired with traditional red roses.  Smaller scarlet, lavender, and purple flowers, which Zendaya didn’t know the names of, accented the bouquet nicely in a way that she never would have expected.  

She brought the flowers to her nose and inhaled their fresh loveliness before lifting her gaze to meet his.  She smiled at him, the happiness of having him home completely overriding the slight frustration she had felt over him being unintentionally late.  His eyes softened as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  

“I love you,” she murmured.  

“I love you too, Zendayachka.”  

He placed another kiss on her lips before she reluctantly pulled away to find a vase.  They sat down to dinner minutes later and discussed their days while they ate.  Val complimented her multiple times on their meal, apparently impressed that she had cooked it.  She couldn’t blame him; the last time she had attempted to make dinner for him, he had come home to her using the fire extinguisher.  

Val occasionally reached out with his free hand, brushing it across the skin of her palm and playing with her fingers.  It was something that he had done from the very beginning, trying to keep some sort of physical contact between them even when they were doing the most ordinary things. She didn’t think that he even realized that he was doing it, but she noticed every single time.  He verbally told her that he loved her quite often and she loved hearing it, but the small moments that told her he loved her without him having to say a word meant just as much.  From the way he smoothed her hair back from her face in the mornings or brought her lunch when she was too busy to leave the recording studio to the way that he wrapped her up in his arms as they fell asleep, he was always showing her just how much she meant to him.  

And she loved  _him_ more than anything.  

Val got up and collected the dirty dishes, rinsing them off and putting them in the dishwasher while Zendaya poured a glass of wine for each of them.  Setting the glasses on the coffee table, she curled up on the couch and waited for Val to join her.  

He made a side trip to his bag, which was still lying on the floor by the door.  Kneeling with his back to her, she thought she saw his body tense up as he rummaged through the contents.  He paused, one of his hands rising to run his fingers through his hair.  

“Val?  Are you okay?”  He jumped, almost as though he had forgotten that she was behind him.  

“I’m fine,” he answered.  He slowly got to his feet and made his way to the couch, a pink box clutched in his hand.

“What’s that?” Zendaya asked.  

“I picked it up when I was at the florist.”  He handed her the box,  _Sweethearts_ emblazoned across the top.  “Apparently they still had some left over from Valentine’s Day.  They were on sale and I figured it could be kind of entertaining.”  

Zendaya grinned over at him, slightly confused by how fixated he was on the box just before he met her gaze and returned her smile.  

“Go ahead,” he encouraged.  Shrugging off his odd behavior, she tore the top open.  She took his hand in hers and dumped out a dozen candy hearts before pouring out some for herself.  

Zendaya picked one at random and read, “ _Let’s Dance._ ”  She smirked before handing it to him.  “How fitting.”  He ate the heart before choosing one to exchange with her.  

“ _My Girl._ ”  

“So original,” she said, smiling and rolling her eyes.  He laughed as she popped the candy into her mouth and let the slightly chalky taste melt on her tongue.  Happiness swelled up from within her.  She loved going to events with him and enjoyed spending time with their families, but simple moments like these, when they were alone and doing nothing of real consequence, were when she was most content.  He didn’t have to do anything special to make her happy when she was happy just to be with him.

They continued trading candy hearts and laughing at the cheesy messages written on them.  

_Honey Bun._

_Table 4 Two._

_You Rock._

_You’re Sweet._

_Kiss Me._

_Love You._

_Soul Mate._

_Marry Me?_

Zendaya paused as she stared at the pink heart in her hand.  Her pulse accelerated as she swallowed before she finally built up enough courage to look over at Val.  His jaw was clenched, his body tense as he waited for her reaction.  But she didn’t know how to respond.  Shock and adrenaline were coursing through her body and her brain was still working to understand exactly what was happening.  

Val looked down and picked another heart from his pile before placing it in her palm.

_Marry Me?_

“Val…what - ?”

He dumped the candy that he held onto the table before kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in his.  

“I love you,” he said.  

“I-I love you too but - ”

“And I know that we’re unconventional and that, in the grand scheme of things, we’ve only been dating for a few years…but in reality, I feel like we’ve been building up to this since the day we met.  You fit into my life so seamlessly, yet you inspired and changed me in so many ways too.  It was like you were a part of me that I had been missing and with you in my life…everything finally made sense.”

He squeezed her hands so tightly that she felt the edges of the candy hearts digging into her palm.   He was shaking slightly and in that moment she understood just how important it was to him to get this right, to make it special…for  _her_.

“I’ve never felt like this before, not about anyone.  And I don’t ever want to lose this feeling.  I don’t ever want to lose  _you,_ ” he continued. “I know you’re still young, at least numerically because sometimes I think you’re more mature than I am.  You’re only twenty-five and you have so much that you still want to do and I’d completely understand if you wanted to wait, but I – ”

Zendaya extracted one of her hands and placed a finger against his lips, silencing him.  

“Val…ask.”  

He swallowed and her hand fell back to her lap.  “Marry me, Zendayachka.  Have children with me and be mine for the rest of our lives.  I’m already yours.”

Tear filled her eyes and she blinked, trying to clear her vision.  She didn’t want to miss a single moment of this.  

“Yes,” she whispered, dropping his other hand in order to cup his cheek.  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

A breathtaking smile spread across his lips, his emerald eyes lighting up.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small black box. He opened the lid to reveal a beautiful diamond ring, the setting intricately inlaid with small diamonds on the side.  Removing it from the velvet that housed it, he took her left hand and gently slid it into place on her ring finger.  

“It’s gorgeous,” she said.  

“I’m glad you like it.”

“You’re what I’m marrying, not the ring,” she said.  “Don’t get me wrong; I love it.  But I love you so much more.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, weaving his fingers through her hair.  He pulled away from her just enough to lean his forehead against hers.  

“I love you too,” he whispered against her lips.  “I love you too.”


End file.
